Medicine Hat News

Hatter finds work in food truck

- MO CRANKER mcranker@medicineha­tnews.com Twitter: MHNmocrank­er

Mike Conljemovi­c was having no luck finding work

... so he made some.

The Hatter has taken to the streets downtown to launch his new NOMaste Eatery food truck, which aims to bring healthy, affordable meals to residents.

“I’ve spent a long time in the restaurant industry and just couldn’t find anything,” he said. “I thought — why not create a business?

“I’ve done this all by myself and I think it adds a really nice, healthy option to our downtown.”

Conljemovi­c says he focuses on natural, healthy food — with a menu that changes every day. People with a short lunch break can text him at 403-793-5432 to see what the menu is and pick up a finished order.

“It’s a basic menu of building a buddha bowl and the vegetables change every day,” he said. “People start with a base of rice, beans or quinoa and they go from there.

“The menu can be made vegetarian or vegan, but we have great meat options.

“We also have paninis and wraps.”

Conljemovi­c built his food-creating hut from scratch using materials he could find, giving him a unique spot to serve his meals.

“I built it and had fun with it,” he said. “I found all the recycled parts and was able to make this work.

“I think it’s a cool look.”

For now, Conljemovi­c is doing lunch hours near city hall on days where it’s nice out. He says he plans on doing festivals this year if they happen.

“I started just in the beginning of March, before all of the craziness started,” he said. “The interestin­g thing about all of this, is that food trucks are designed to be socially distanced — restaurant­s are not.

“I’ve put myself in a bit of a unique situation here and I’m going to make the best of it.”

 ?? NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER ?? Mike Conljemovi­c tends to his new food truck downtown while waiting for the lunch rush to show up. Conljemovi­c started the business recently because he’s been unable to find work.
NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER Mike Conljemovi­c tends to his new food truck downtown while waiting for the lunch rush to show up. Conljemovi­c started the business recently because he’s been unable to find work.

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